Territorial Delegation of the Government of the Generalitat in Terres de l’Ebre
Tortosa (Tarragona), Spain
We find ourselves in the heart of a compact historic center where singular buildings are lined up with the street facades. We have tried to maintain this rhythm and decided to stay aligned also with the main street.
We were asked to complete a building to house the new headquarters of the Catalan government, in which the built-up area would free up most of the plot.
Through its form the building creates three well-articulated squares instead of a large space that would expose the facades of the surrounding buildings, in state of neglect and of scarce architectural value.
A U-shaped volume wraps an interior square. The shared workspaces overlook this square through large windows. We could say that at this point the building looks at itself and ignores the run down facades of its surroundings. Meanwhile the small individual offices are aligned on the exterior facades, where the windows are designed at the scale of the adjacent buildings.
The different volumes are tilted for a better articulation of the spaces of the three squares that create the building, letting the perspectives flow from one to another.
Project data
Area
12.133 m2 Gross Floor Area, 2.450 m2 Landscape
Year
Competition: 2005
Design Development: 2006
Technical Design: 2008 – 2009
Construction: 2010 – 2019
Status
Completed
Client
Public – Generalitat de Catalunya
Team
Main Architect: Carme Pinós
Architects: Roberto Carlos García, Juan Antonio Andreu, Marco Tapia, Agustín Pérez, Holger Hennefarth, Jeanne de Bussac, Daniel Cano
Structural Engineering: BOMA / MASALA Consultors
MEP Engineering: Consulting Oficina Tècnica Lluis J. Duart
Photography
Jesús Arenas
Awards
2018. XIII edition. “La Llana de Oro” competition